soloing in the backcountry

[nate s]

I ski solo a fair amount too and think a lot of times I am safer than with a group. I have been in groups where I turned around and went off on my own because I felt safer by myself. I think the added awareness you get from skiing solo can be very rewarding and really makes you be on your shit. Look at the statistics by % and you will find solo skiers are less likely to get buried. Remember, if you wouldn't ski it without beacon/partner you shouldn't ski it anyway.

EDIT- Don't want to give anyone the wrong idea, this all assumes you have the requisite eval/backcountry skills.

[Zeedashbo]

very good reply for a semi-jong.

[cololi]

Holy Schiat. I actually agree with Blurred on something. And APD, what's wrong with married ski partners? I am married. I ski almost exclusively in the bc. I will never ski alone in the bc. Why? because there are other people who depend on me and it would be incredibly selfish of me to take my responsibilities to them lightly. of course, if I was single, no kids, no family, I would probably consider skiing solo in the bc, especially in avie terrain. You may recall that 5-6 years ago a snowboarder was killed in an avie on Nov 1 in that same terrain.

[Buzzworthy]

the up route i took is near avalanche free.

NEAR.


You said it, not me.

BC jong here, but from all the snow and super stoked people, it can be easy to see only YOUR perpective.

That being said, be careful because I would like to get some turns in with you.

I know others who go out solo. I would not do it personally, but that is my choice and I do not have the proper skills and knowledge (yet). Like Splat said, freedom of choice.

But then again, like Blurred said, what is "in between" the safe zones.

That crack speaks for itself. Just a bit more weight and it is heading.



We have a long way to go, it is only October, remember that yall.


"If there is enough snow to ski, there is enough snow to slide" - Toby Weed.


Be careful out there and make the right decisions, even if it means tucking you tail and heading somewhere else or out if conditions warrant.



Edit: cololi is the man and he has great points here. Take them to heart.

[13]

Irony:

Only 2 people in this thread are familiar with Keyhole's terrain -- APD and cololi, possibly Buzz, but I think that's a hell of a hike for him fro the Tram if he has been thataway.

Terrain is obviously a major factor when it comes to avy mitigation and risk assessment. So before you bash or judge someone for their decision, I'd think you'd want to be familiar with said terrain, eh?

[PNWbrit]

I'm sure APD knows his shit and I absolutely don't know the terrain but there seem far too many red flags to be up there alone maybe even to be up there with a partner. Early season (surface bonding and no skier compaction), heavy recent snow, cracking, visible avalanche activity and while it's difficult to tell from the pictures it doesn't look like "safe terrain"

[A-wreck]

that looks sweet............
I can't wait to be in utah.........

and it sounds to me like you played it safe

[Buzzworthy]

Irony:

Only 2 people in this thread are familiar with Keyhole's terrain -- APD and cololi, possibly Buzz, but I think that's a hell of a hike for him fro the Tram if he has been thataway.

Terrain is obviously a major factor when it comes to avy mitigation and risk assessment. So before you bash or judge someone for their decision, I'd think you'd want to be familiar with said terrain, eh?

13, please read what I wrote again. No bashing, no judging. Making observations and voicing them from what I have seen here and what I have experienced out there.

No, have not hiked up Keyhole, that is a hell of a hike. But I have been around the mountain quite a bit, so I am not speaking out of my ass (at least not totally).

I am learning.

To me, better safe than sorry.

That being said, I have to somewhat/kinda of/mostly agree with you on being THERE at THAT TIME. But we have pics and they speak a bit for themselves too.


Be safe, with your decisions and your activities.


edit: 13, sorry, I am a bit edgy from the flu right now. A day off work and I am drained instead of being up in the snow. Sucks to take a sick day to be sick, but I was forced too by work. They sent me home early yesterday. Good news is I believe I am done praying to the toilet gods. It was a 48 hour deal, not too bad.

Utards and others, take your vitamins!!!

[cololi]

I do think that APD has good avie skills, based on what he has posted here in the past. I have no problem with freedom to live and die as you please. I should add that before I was married with kids, I did ski solo in the bc, albeit on low angle stuff. At some point along the line, I realized that not only was I putting myself in danger by skiing solo, I was also running the risk of not being able to be with my loved ones, friends, etc. if something were to happen. I also remember the day that I realized that if something happened to me, if I was injured, buried, etc. I would be putting my rescuers at risk as well. That is where the right to live/die as you want ends, in my opinion.

[Huck Finn]

"Safety" is only a perception.
What you perceive to be safe does not necessarily jive with what others consider "safe". The perception of safety is largely based on your experience, knowledge of the risks inherent with what you're doing, and your comfort with these risks. Most people wouldn't put their life on the line doing something they considered flat out unsafe or extremely risky.

Some people may consider BASE jumping "safe" enough to participate in, while others may consider it crazy. Generally, someone who is an expert BASE jumper will say "I know how to pack a chute. I have good form in the air and know how to get out of trouble. I know when to pull the chute. I know the risks and I'm OK with that." They perceive this activity as being reasonably safe based on their experience with the sport, their knowledge of what can go wrong and how to avoid it, and their willingness to accept the risks of what can happen if things don't go as planned.

When I started rock climbing, I always considered trad climbing as not being particularly safe. I reasoned there are a lot more variables; a lot more things could go wrong. Your protection isn't always bomber, there isn't always a place to set pro when you'd like there to be, you could set bad pro, multi-pitch introduces all kinds of additional issues, etc. However, as I've come to be more experienced I've realized you can mitigate a lot of the risks with knowledge and experience. Sure, I could do everything right and something could still go horribly wrong, but I understand the risks inherent in the sport and now consider trad an acceptable risk. Am I crazy for getting into trad climbing? Is it not safe? Depends on who you ask.

I guess my point is, don't bag on the guy just because he choses to take a risk you aren't willing to take. He seems to understand what he's getting himself into. He seems to have experience in the field of snow safety, understands the risks and is willing to accept them. If he was a 15 year old who just figured out how sweet powder was and had no training, experience, or idea what he was getting himself into, and went out in the CO backcountry alone, that's one thing, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. If it were me, yeah, I'd probably want a partner, but I still respect this guy's right to do what the he11 he wants.

Maybe we should shut down terrain parks at resorts because they are not “safe”. After all, people get hurt and killed in terrain parks.

[Blurred]

Trevor was a good man. He solo'd tons of shit, and I'm willing to bet he had more BC experience than anyone on this board.
He was alone, and he died. He left a wife and widowed his kid. Learn from Trevor. RIP amigo.

[Huck Finn]

Trevor was a good man. He solo'd tons of shit, and I'm willing to bet he had more BC experience than anyone on this board.
He was alone, and he died. He left a wife and widowed his kid. Learn from Trevor. RIP amigo.

By the points you made above you would clearly consider a lot of things Trevor Peterson did to be "dumb". I doubt he would really want to hear you spew about your opinions on what is safe, nor would he want you invoking his name to support your opinions.

He accepted the risk of what he did. He lived his life doing what he loved. Is that selfish? The answer to that question is purely an opinion. Don't try to declare your opinion as a fact. Then again, the distinction between opinion and fact seems to elude you 90% of the time.

[Blurred]

He lived his life doing what he loved. Is that selfish? The answer to that question is purely an opinion.

Having hung out with his son Kye, I'd have to say YES, it was very selfish, dumb, and irresponsible.

edit:bad use of a dumb word

[AntiSoCalSkier]

I can't believe you guys have turned a stoke thread like this into a flamewar over going solo in the backcountry.

Lame.

[Huck Finn]

Having hung out with his bastard son Kye, I'd have to say YES, it was very selfish, dumb, and irresponsible.

That is your opinion. Just realize that it is an opinion.
Do you think Kye or his wife blame him for being "selfish, dumb and irresponsible"? I don't know the answer to this, but I doubt either of them fault him for living his life the way he did. Even considering the tragic outcome of his choices.

[grizzle6]

I can't believe you guys have turned a stoke thread like this into a flamewar over going solo in the backcountry.

Lame.

Agreed. To each his own. Live life.

[Buzzworthy]

I can't believe you guys have turned a stoke thread like this into a flamewar over going solo in the backcountry.

Lame.

M, maybe some of us dont want to see something happen to our close friends who are up there everyday. If you saw what it is like here......


I would much rather be LAME than learn that something bad happened to a fellow maggot and friend.

Yea, it may suck that this all came out in a TR, but conditions warrant such talk.

I would rather speak up and be shit on than not say anything and someone gets hurt or worse.


Buzz

[splat]

Trevor was a good man. He solo'd tons of shit, and I'm willing to bet he had more BC experience than anyone on this board.
He was alone, and he died. He left a wife and widowed his kid. Learn from Trevor. RIP amigo.

Trevor was killed by an avie that spilled into the Cosmiques from a side couloir above. A somewhat unpredictable happenstance. Had anyone been with him, they would likely have died as well. Death like that happens every day in Cham. The risk begins when you cross the street on the way to the telepherique.

[Zeedashbo]

i usually try to have blurred's back, but lately blurred is a useless flamer. way to bring up trevor asswipe.

[splat]

Ain't no big thang. We are fortunate enough to have a variety of people here to express their diverse opinions and enjoy free speech as well as free choice in the backcountry and elsewhere. If we look at fact and circumstance, it's easy to see how some opinions are formulated, whether we agree or not. Let go, Z, you're bigger than that. Sometimes I can be a dick simply because I'm having a rough day. It's hard to hold our tongues sometimes, but it doesn't hurt to stew down.

[Zeedashbo]

i would edit it, but that's not me. i'm not totally pissed at blurred, it just seemed a little harsh to bring up the greatest ski mountaineer ever in such a bad way.

[Blurred]

i would edit it, but that's not me. i'm not totally pissed at blurred, it just seemed a little harsh to bring up the greatest ski mountaineer ever in such a bad way.

Ever lost a friend in an avalanche? Ever been in one?
I brought up Trevor as an example that even if you know A shitload about mountaineering, skiing by yourself is still dumb. Go ahead and be lame and turn this into a Trevor thread. That's a pretty low blow dude.

[Mental Square]

schiz·o·phre·ni·a ( P ) Pronunciation Key (skts-frn-, -frn-)
n.
1:Any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial factors.
2:A situation or condition that results from the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic qualities, identities

[Zeedashbo]

Ever lost a friend in an avalanche? Ever been in one?
I brought up Trevor as an example that even if you know A shitload about mountaineering, skiing by yourself is still dumb. Go ahead and be lame and turn this into a Trevor thread. That's a pretty low blow dude.

i think i have the same question for you as phunk had. i'm pretty sure you turned it into a trevor thread, but i'll let it go. you are right, anybody who skis by themselves are not smart, totally lame, and lack the proper knowledge to go out in the backcountry.

[Blurred]

i think i have the same question for you as phunk had. i'm pretty sure you turned it into a trevor thread, but i'll let it go. you are right, anybody who skis by themselves are not smart, totally lame, and lack the proper knowledge to go out in the backcountry.

Skiing in the backcountry by yourself is dumb. There, I said it again. Go talk to Ski Patrol, search and rescue or any other group of people who know what the fuck they're talking about. What is so difficult to understand about this???